Pubdate: Thu Aug 12, 1999
Source: Tahoe World
Copyright: 1999 Tahoe World
Contact: P.O. Box 138 Tahoe City, CA 96145
Website: http://www.tahoe.com/world/
Author: Joelle Babula
Note: Our newshawk writes: How is it that the a local paper like the Tahoe
World can do such a superior job of journalism? The answer is that many of
the larger papers are still held hostage to old thinking by old editors who
insist the drug war go on. Thankfully, the Tahoe World refuses to pander
to drug war lies and ideology. Here is the real story about our situation,
told without some hidden commitment to sanctify the police or uphold our
failed drug policies. Even the headline is honest, unlike stodgy old papers
which insists on calling our trial a "drug trial." --steve kubby
MEDICINAL MARIJUANA TRIAL DELAYED
AUBURN - Due to pregnancy complications, the trials of Steven Kubby and his
expecting wife, Michele, will be postponed until February.
"My wife is exhausted," Kubby said. "She's in her 22nd week of pregnancy
and she only weighs one pound over her normal weight. She had a miscarriage
last year and we don't want to have to worry about losing this baby."
Kubby, a California Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, and his wife were
arrested in January in their Olympic Valley home and charged with
possession of marijuana for sales, cultivation of marijuana and conspiracy.
The Kubbys pleaded innocent to all charges.
The court trial, which began last Tuesday morning at the Placer County
Superior Court in Auburn, was continued Tuesday following a doctor's
examination of Michele, said her lawyer, Joe Farina of Sacramento.
"Michele will be treated in Southern California by her doctor there as soon
as she is well enough to fly," Farina said.
"My wife has been ordered to complete bed rest for the last three days and
she's still exhausted," Kubby said during a telephone interview Monday
morning, before he learned the trial date had been continued.
"She looks terrible, I don't know if she can tolerate another week of this.
We want to get this trial over with to clear our name, but we have very
real concerns about losing this baby. Whatever happens, my first priority
is to survive as a family," said Kubby.
Although the Kubbys each have their own case and their own lawyer, Steve's
case was also continued because both cases deal with the same charges,
witnesses and evidence, Farina said.
"There will be an early settlement conference on Oct. 18 to see how Michele
is doing and if the two cases can go on earlier," Farina said. "But if not,
the trial will actually start Feb. 15."
Following the arrest of the Kubbys in January, according to a report from
the North Tahoe Task Force, four separate grow rooms, 300 marijuana plants,
ranging in size from small nursery plants to full grown plants with buds,
were discovered in the Kubby home. An estimated $420,000 worth of drugs
were confiscated along with growing equipment and drug paraphernalia.
According to Kubby, he was growing the marijuana for medical purposes and
thus, is protected by Proposition 215, commonly known as the compassionate
use act.
Kubby has had adrenal cancer for 22 years.
"His physician had recommended and approved Kubby's use (of marijuana) in
writing in regard to his cancer situation," said Kubby's Truckee attorney,
Dale Wood, in previous Tahoe World reports.
Kubby said marijuana is the only medicine he takes for his cancer.
"I have several tumors, including one next to my heart, and each cell
produces a lethal level of adrenaline in my blood. Marijuana is the only
medicine I take and it clearly helps. With those high levels of adrenaline,
my blood pressure can shoot up and I can die of a stroke immediately."
According to Kubby, he has been smoking large quantities of medical
marijuana for the last 23 years.
"I consume over seven pounds a year," Kubby said. "That's the same amount
that others get from the government each year."
Under Proposition 215, patients and caregivers who "possess or cultivate
marijuana for medical treatment recommended by a physician are exempt from
criminal law which otherwise prohibit the possession or cultivation of
marijuana."
Christopher Cattran, the deputy district attorney prosecuting the case,
said in previous Tahoe World reports that due to the large amount of
marijuana found at Kubby's residence, "it was for more than just personal
use."
Kubby, however, said there is no limit to the amount you can grow for
personal use under Proposition 215.
"Depriving me of marijuana for more than a few days could kill me," Kubby
said. "We (Michele and I) still maintain we haven't broken any laws."
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